Temporal Inequality and Spatiotemporal Justice in Contemporary Capitalism: A Theoretical-Normative Proposal
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Abstract
Social inequality is typically analyzed in terms of income, wealth, and access to material and non-material resources. This article examines a related dimension that cannot be reduced to these factors: the unequal distribution of the quantity, quality, predictability, and control of time. The aim of this article is to construct a theoretical-normative framework of spatiotemporal justice applicable to contemporary capitalism—understood as a post-Fordist, digitized, and financialized configuration driven by platforms that consolidated in the late 20th century and intensified following the pandemic. Through qualitative documentary research, the article integrates the genealogy of temporal discipline, the sociology of acceleration, political economy, care studies, and chronopolitics. The conceptual findings distinguish between time poverty, temporal precarity, structural temporal exclusion, and relative temporal autonomy. Furthermore, they categorize temporary justice into negative, positive, and collective guarantees. The proposed 4D matrix integrates temporal sufficiency, autonomy and predictability, territorial accessibility, and the capacity to envision futures. The twin paradox and the Martian scenario are employed as heuristic limiting cases, not as evidence. The conclusion asserts that democratizing the future requires policies that redistribute time, recognize plural temporalities, and limit forms of domination based on waiting, urgency, and constant availability.
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